The ordinance of the gospel, Mark 14: 12-26

Today we are looking at the section of scripture in which Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper.  It is called by various names in Christianity today, in some churches, it is the eucharist, in some, it is communion. All refer to the same ceremony, yet all do not observe it in the same way.  It is the belief of this church, and most conservative, evangelical Christian churches, that this ceremony is one of two essential ordinances for the church, the other being baptism.  In fact, some theologians have said that the identification of the church is that it observes the preaching of the word and the observation of the ordinances. So it is important that we know how we are to observe the ordinance of communion, and why.

I believe that the answers to those questions can be found in this text.  For the answer to how we are to observe it, I would point to the precursor of this ritual as the template from which it is established.  And as we se in vs12, it is the ceremony or ritual of the Jews that was known as the feast of Unleavened Bread.  And if you look back at vs 1 of chapter 14, you will see that the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread are presented as synonymous.  They refer to the same event, which is a week long celebration of Passover.  

Now this ceremony was perhaps the most important ceremony celebrated in Israel.  It was a celebration of the deliverance of Israel from captivity to Egypt. You will remember that Israel was captive of Egypt for 430 years, and God raised up Moses to be their deliverer.  God, through Moses demanded that Pharaoh would let Israel go, but Pharaoh hardened his heart, even though God showed great signs and caused plagues to fall on the Egyptians.  Until at last the patience of God was finished, and God pronounced a curse upon the land by saying that at midnight the death angel would pass through the land, and God would strike dead the firstborn son of whomever did not have the blood of the Passover lamb upon the door posts.

For the salvation of Israel from the plague of death, God instituted an ordinance which required for the Israelites to take an unblemished lamb and slay it, and put some of the blood upon the doorposts of their house.  Then they were to roast the lamb whole in fire, and eat the lamb with a side dish of bitter herbs and with unleavened bread.  This meal was to be taken once a year on the first month of the year, as a way of remembering God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery.  

And though all the Jews may not have understood all the spiritual significance of the feast, other than the historical application, yet from our perspective we know that there were many symbols in the feast which were to be for our instruction.  Namely, that  as the scripture said in Hebrews 9:22, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The unblemished Passover lamb that was to live with the Jews in their home for 3 days, and then be sacrificed was a substitute for sin.  It presented the principle of the innocent dying for the guilty.  God allowed for the spotless lamb to be slain for the sins of the  believing family.  The bitter herbs represented the bitter years of slavery to Egypt, which in turn represented the bitter years of enslavement to sin and the world.  And the symbol of unleavened bread represented the removal of sin; sin being represented by the yeast which causes corruption in the bread, making it rise, or in the absence of it, causing it to be unleavened, or uncorrupted.

So the Passover was observed every year in Jerusalem, and Jesus has been heading for this particular observance since the day He began His ministry, referring often to His appointed hour, which was the exact time when the lamb would be slain during the Passover.  Now on the day of the feast, Jesus sends two of His disciples to prepare the meal in a room which He has designated for this important event.  And there is an interesting aspect of mystery to Jesus’s instructions.  He says “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.”  It sounds like some clandestine arrangement like you would read about in a spy novel or something.  In fact, there is a reason why Jesus would want to keep the location secret, and that is the fact Judas is looking for a way to betray Him to the rulers. So in saying look for a man carrying a water pitcher, the disciples would readily recognize the incongruity of a man doing something which was typically something only women did, and in so following this man they would be taken to the house which the Lord had designated, without Jesus having to divulge it’s exact whereabouts ahead of time.  Now we don’t know whether or not Jesus had prearranged this, or whether it was His divine foreknowledge, but either way, it was something Christ had arranged, either through divine providence or prearrangement. 

And I believe it was by divine providence, as Christ is able to even tell them the details of the conversation they will have, and Mark tells us that they found everything just as Jesus said it would be.  And so they prepared everything for the Passover meal.  

When it was evening, Jesus came to the house with the rest of the disciples, all twelve of them being now present, and Jesus as the host would have conducted the ceremony.  The timing of this is Thursday evening, by the way.  I’ve heard some commentators explain that the Galileans celebrated the Passover on Thursday evening, but the Judeans celebrated it on Friday.  Thus, Jesus could celebrate the customary meal with His disciples on Thursday evening, but then be sacrificed Himself on Friday as the Passover Lamb for the remission of sins, even as thousands of lambs were being slain in the temple.

Now according to John’s gospel account, Jesus first washes the disciples feet in preparation for the meal. It was customary to wash one’s feet before entering a house to eat.  And so Jesus takes on the position of a servant, that He might wash the disciples feet.  You can read that account in John 13 if you like, but I will not expound on that aspect of the evening except to point out one fact; and that is that Jesus also washed Judas’s feet.  If you want to know what being a spiritual servant looks like, then look no further than at the humility of Jesus who washes the feet of the man who will betray Him that very night.  

And then, once again we see the divine omniscience of Jesus in His remark as they were then seated and eating the meal, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.”  Now this was a shocking statement, and it should be noted that the word betray means literally, to deliver over.  So it is clear what Jesus is saying, yet it is unclear of whom He is speaking of.

If this were a “who dunnit” then such a statement might draw conspiratorial glances around the dinner table, each of them appraising the criminal intentions of his neighbor.  But to their credit, it sparks intense introspection on the part of the disciples, as they each wonder whether they could be the culprit.  They show a sense of healthy self distrust.  They don’t think of themselves as too far above such a thing as disloyalty or even betrayal of their Lord.  

And I say such an attitude is healthy, because we should always have the mindset that we should not think of ourselves as being above some vile sin. We should always have a view towards anyone found in some public sin, that there for the grace of God go I.   In fact, to some extent, all of them would desert Him that night.  And Peter would in fact deny Him.  Betrayal is just one step further.

So they each ask with a sense of inner grief, “Surely, not I?” They grieve because they mourn their own lack of fortitude or certitude.  They know they are weak, but they pray that they are not that weak.  And Jesus does not immediately allay their fear.  Nor does He identify the culprit.  But Jesus allows a moment of introspection and examination.  And in 1 Corinthians 11:28, Paul warns that we too must take the moment to examine ourselves that we do not eat of the table of the Lord unworthily.  We need to take the time to examine ourselves, to look for the yeast which needs to be removed from the Lord’s house, whose house we are, if we are to properly celebrate what Jesus has done for us in His sacrifice.

Jesus gives an answer to their questions of “Is it I” by giving an ambiguous answer, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl.”  This was referring to the practice of eating a sop, a piece of bread dipped in the juices and herbs and meat.   He was referring to the unthinkable act of sharing His food and yet plotting His betrayal by one of His own friends and close acquaintances. Especially in that culture, such an act after the host’s hospitality was considered unconscionable. 

But though it was meant to be ambiguous to the disciples, it must have cut like a knife to Judas, who knew what his plans were, and now understood that Jesus knew his heart.  It’s interesting that among the disciples none were more highly esteemed than Judas.  He was above reproach.  He was the treasurer, even though someone like Matthew, a tax collector, had more experience with handling money.  He was a Judean, whereas all the others were Galileean.  Therefore he was probably from a better society, better educated, more noble in appearance. And yet we are reminded that God said, “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.”  And Jesus knew what Judas had planned in his heart.

And then Jesus adds a warning for Judas. “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”  Though the Christ had been prophesied in the scriptures that He would die, (Isaiah 53 especially) yet Jesus is saying that Judas is still responsible for his actions. Though God appointed that Jesus would suffer for the sins of the world, yet still man who caused His suffering is responsible.  Nowhere in scripture does predestination cancel human responsibility. 

It was intended as a warning, but also as an opportunity; a last opportunity to repent.  Judas could still  have repented.  Perhaps even as Judas kisses Jesus as a signal to the mob later on that night, he could have still repented.  But like Pharaoh, Judas continues to harden his heart.

Well, at this point, Judas goes out, the other disciples thinking that Jesus must have given him some mission to go buy something that was needed. And so Jesus resumes the Passover meal, and in so doing He institutes the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.  And please note that I try to consistently use the term “ordinance.”  There is another word that is often heard in this regard which is “sacrament.”   Sacrament infers a sacred act by which a certain measure of righteousness is attained.  The Roman Catholics, for instance, believe that this ritual involves transubstantiation, in which the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ as it is taken.  The Reformation began to move Protestants away from that assertion, and most evangelical Christians today believe that it is representative, or symbolic of Christ’s body, but it is not His actual body. 

I was just in Starbucks the other day talking with a Catholic about this.  They believe that the host, or the bread, is the actual body of Christ, even before it is eaten.  So they cannot offer the host outside of the church.  However, they have altered the ordinance because they do not offer the wine to the public for sanitation reasons, among others.  

But we believe that Jesus was speaking figuratively.  And if you will remember the Passover meal and it’s symbolism which I started by describing for you, then it should not be difficult to recognize that as the Passover meal was symbolic of God’s deliverance of Israel from their sins, then the Lord’s Supper is symbolic of Christ’s deliverance of the sins of the world.  Jesus often used symbolic language to teach spiritual principles.  For instance, Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Obviously symbolic.  Jesus said about Himself that He was the door, He was the light of the world, He was the good shepherd, He was the bread that came down out of heaven, He was the rock in the wilderness, He was the water of life.  In alll those expressions we understand them to be symbolic, and so also then is the Lord’s Supper.

Furthermore, Jesus was sitting there in front of them in His natural body, a 30 something year old Jewish man, and He was holding out a piece of bread or a cup of wine and saying, “this is My body, this is My blood.”  He was not yet crucified, so He could not be actually offering those things to them except symbolically representing what He would accomplish for them on the cross.

So without further debate, it was a symbolic ceremony that Jesus was instituting.  But what in fact did it represent?  Well, once again we need to look at the precursor, the Passover meal.  Jesus was declaring that He was the Passover Lamb.  We are the family that must offer an unblemished sacrifice for the remission of sins, that the angel of death might pass over us. We do not have a qualified unblemished lamb that we may offer to God.  The Bible says that there is none righteous, no not one.  The original Passover Lamb in Egypt was a symbol of the true Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world which at that time was yet to come.  The Passover pointed forward in faith to the day when Christ would come as the unblemished Lamb of God.  The Lord’s Supper points back in faith to the day when Christ came as the unblemished Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. 

As the Jews ate the lamb and the meal, they looked forward to that promise in Christ.  Even so, as we eat the Lord’s Supper, we look back in faith to what Jesus did on the cross, the righteous dying in the place of the unrighteous.  The innocent dying for the guilty.  We recognize that we are guilty and that He died in our place.  And then we eat of the unleavened bread, as acceptance of the righteousness of Christ which is applied to us by faith.  As He is righteous, we by faith become righteous.  That is why we eat the unleavened bread.  It represents His righteous, sinless body, which was broken for US.  His sinlessness avails for us through His death when we appropriate it by faith.

And then we drink of the cup.  The cup, Jesus said, was the new covenant in His blood.  Only God can make a covenant with man.  A covenant is a binding agreement, a promise, usually sealed with an oath, or a deposit, or sometimes with blood.  Jesus made the strongest possible bond of covenant, when He sealed it with His precious blood, the very blood of God.  By His blood we are saved.  Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”  

The Old Testament spoke of this new covenant, especially in Jeremiah 31:33-34 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” This covenant between God and man for our forgiveness is ratified by Christ’s blood.

The author of Hebrews rightly tells us that Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant with better promises.  Though we celebrate the Lord’s Supper again and again, it is in remembrance, not in a continual sacrifice.  The scripture says once and for all His sacrifice has sufficed to be the guarantee of our inheritance in heaven as children of God.  But please understand that Jesus says that His blood has been poured out for many.  That is more than a few, but not for all.  But only to those who eat of His body and drink His blood. That is, for those who appropriate His sacrifice and substitute for themselves.  They believe in Him, and they accept Him as their Lord and Savior.  And that is what we are symbolically referring to  when we eat and drink of the Lord’s Supper.  Just as baptism does not save us, but it represents what has happened on the inside, and the new life spiritually that we are now living, so the Lord’s Supper represents what Christ has done, and what we have believed and appropriated, and now live with Him in us, and us in Him.

Finally, there is one last statement which Jesus makes in vs. 25, "Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”  In this statement Jesus reveals that the Lord’s Supper not only points back in remembrance to the cross, but also it points forward to the second coming.  When Jesus speaks here of the Kingdom of God, He speaks of the consummation of the kingdom, when Jesus comes for His bride the church, and we are with the Lord, and participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.   Jesus is prophesying, in the face of His imminent death, that He will rise again, and He will return to claim His kingdom as it’s King.  It is then not just a solemn remembrance of His death, but also a blessed hope of the resurrection, not only for Christ as the first fruits, but also for us as His bride, who will never taste death but will be raised with a new, glorified body to be with the Lord forever.  And that is something to celebrate.

In vs.26, Mark says that they concluded the ceremony by singing a hymn, and went out on the Mount of Olives.  I would point out that this is the only time we are told that Jesus or the disciples sung.  I’m sure it wasn’t the only time.  But it’s telling that singing does not have the emphasis in the New Testament that we have given it in the church today.  Now you can make as much of that as you want.  But I think we need to examine what we do today in the church in the name of worship by comparing what they did in the early church.  There were other examples of singing in the church, Paul and Silas in prison comes to mind. And both James and Paul instruct us to sing.  

But once again, if we look to the Passover Feast celebration, then we learn that the hymn they traditionally closed with was called the Hallel, which is Psalm 115 to 118.  I would love to take this opportunity to read them in their entirety, but we do not have the time.  It is particularly poignant though to read some of the verses recognizing what Jesus was about to go through as He was singing them. We don’t know the melodies of these songs today, but I can’t help but imagine that they were like fighting songs, like marching songs, that stirred up courage and faith in a time of trouble.  And so in closing, I would like to read just a few random verses as they speak so vividly of what Jesus must have been feeling as He prepared Himself for the cross.

Psalm 116:3-4, 6, 8-9, 15  The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!" ... 6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. ... 8 For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9 I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living. ... 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.

Psalm 118:1, 5-6, 8, 14, 16-17, 19, 22, 27-29  Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. ... 5 From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. 6 The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? ... 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. ... 14 The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. ... 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. 17 I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD. ... 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD. ... 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. ... 27 The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Let us not forget that Jesus suffered and died for us, that those who believe in Him and accept Him as their Savior and Lord might have the forgiveness of sins and have everlasting life. We are now going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  Let’s pray as we prepare our hearts.  

The love of the gospel, Mark 14:1-11

Back in chapter 12, you will remember that Jesus was asked, “what is the foremost commandment?”  And of course the answer that Jesus gave was “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”  

Now that should be very familiar to all of you.  However, have you really thought about this foremost commandment of God?  If you consider all of the traditions of all the false religions and false gods of the world, in which of them does their god declare that the most important thing is that you love him?  Fear him, maybe.  Obey him, probably.  But love him?  I dare say that our God is the only deity I am aware of that desires that His subjects love Him, first and foremost.  Now granted, such love necessitates obedience and reverence.  But the overriding principle is that you love Him with all your heart.  That reveals the fact that we are designed to have an intimate relationship to God which is distinct from  any other religion.

Today we are going to look at the characteristics of that kind of love, as illustrated primarily by a woman. And in her actions, we see exemplified the great sacrifice, the great extravagance, and the tremendous effect of such unmitigated love, a love with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Then in contrast, we are going to see someone that is attracted to Christ, that purports to be a follower of Christ, and yet does not love Him, but loves himself and loves the world. 

Now to be clear, love is not the means of salvation. Faith in Christ is the means of justification.  Faith is the way we are considered righteous before God. Abraham believed God and He counted it to him as righteousness.  However, once we have been justified by faith,  love is the means of sanctification.  Love is the outworking of that righteousness.  Love is how we become like Christ.  We love, because He first loved us. And because we love Him, we do the things that are pleasing to Him.  Not to confuse you, but there was another woman who anointed Jesus with perfume at the beginning of His ministry in Luke 7.  And though Jesus praised her outpouring of love for Him, yet He said “your faith has saved you.” Love was working with her faith.  We are saved by faith, and love is the result. 

Now Mark’s account picks up the story in the middle of the Passover week, two days  before Passover.  But in vs 3, he actually goes back to the previous Saturday, not in Jerusalem where Jesus and the disciples were at present, but back to a visit in Bethany, to the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and specifically to the home of a man called Simon the Leper.  And the only reason that we can deduce Mark makes this jump back in time at this point, is that he wishes to illustrate the sacrificial nature of love and the preparation for the imminent crucifixion of the Lord which will happen in just two days.  Mark doesn’t make the timetable all that clear, but John’s gospel in chapter 12 tells us that it occurs on the preceding Saturday.  John also tells us that the woman whom Mark leaves unnamed was actually Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

So Jesus and the disciples are having dinner with Simon the Leper.  And it’s likely that not only  Mary, but Martha and Lazarus are there.  Lazarus, you will remember, was just recently raised from the dead by Jesus. And we might also assume that Simon the Leper was healed by Jesus at some point previously as well, because the fact is that if he were still a leper, no one would come to his house for dinner.  He would have been an outcast from society.  So it’s obvious that he had been healed by Jesus at some point previously.  So it’s a dinner party, and considering what has recently transpired, it was a happy occasion, perhaps even meant to be a celebration.

Now it was customary for the host to provide for foot washing at such events.  That was normally taken care of by the servants of the host. In some wealthier homes, the attendees might even be anointed with perfume.  That might be a luxury provided by a wealthy host.  But in this case, as Jesus is reclining at the table, Mary comes in and begins to tend to Jesus in a most peculiar way. 

Mark tells us that she had an alabaster vial of very costly perfume called nard.  Nard would have been imported from India, and so it was very rare and valuable.  And what is important to understand is that such vials were used as a way of storing wealth.  Perfume such as this was like liquid gold, that was able to be stored and preserved for the future.  Many people did not have access to savings accounts at banks such as we have today, and so this was a way of putting aside money for the future.  Of course, it could be used in small amounts as well for special events, but for the most part it represented an investment.  This particular ointment was kept in an alabaster vial, a translucent, glass vial that was expensive in it’s own right.  

Now if you look further along in the text, you will notice that the disciples said this perfume might have been sold for 300 denarii.  A denarius was equivalent to a day’s wage, so 300 denarii means that it was worth around $30,000, or close to a year’s wages.  That’s a lot of money for perfume, or better yet, representative of a lifesavings.

But there is more to it than that, I believe.  In those days, it was customary for a young woman to receive a dowry from her family to be used to help her acquire a husband.  Now this worked both ways.  On the one hand the bridegroom gave gifts to the parents, but the woman also had a dowry which was used as a financial gift to the groom from the brides family. Women were not considered in those times in the same way we think of them today. Marriage was many times a financial as well as a social arrangement.  And so the dowry would sometimes be a financial incentive for a woman to get a husband.  And without a husband, a woman had a very poor future.  She was very limited in terms of owning property or having any sort of employment that would provide for her living.  

However, it cannot be overstressed how important marriage was to a young woman in that society.  Much like in our day, many young women look forward to and plan for their wedding day long before they even find a suitor, in hope that finding a husband will be the beginning of  fulfilling their dream of children and a family. And it was even more so in that culture. So I believe that this alabaster vial of very expensive ointment was Mary’s dowry.  And these vials of expensive perfume acted as a sort of savings account for the woman which would become her dowry which was given to her husband.  And in the case that she didn’t find a husband, she could sell this perfume and it would help provide financially for her future. 

So Mary comes to Jesus as He is seated at dinner, and she anoints Jesus, but in so doing she  breaks the vial and pours it on His head and on His feet, and John even tells us that she washes His feet with her hair. What she did must have caused a tremendous affect on everyone there.  It would have just stopped all dinner conversation.  It would have caused everyone to stop eating and just stare in disbelief.  It would have just been a magnificent act that dumbfounded everyone present. 

What Mary’s offering represented was an act of sacrificial love. It was a tremendous cost not only in terms of money, but even more telling, in terms of her future.  It was as if she was saying that her love for the Lord was more important than that of the love of a future husband. She was putting all that she had hoped in for this life, in this great act of sacrifice for Jesus.  I find it very similar to the widow of chapter 12, who in giving an offering in the temple gave two small coins, which Jesus said was all she had to live on.  And consequently, when Jesus saw it, He said, this widow has given more than all the other contributors, because she gave all that she had, all that she had to live on.  Though Mary’s gift was considerably more valuable in terms of money, it was no less valuable in terms of worth as it represented all that she had hoped for in this world.  And as such it illustrates the sacrificial, all encompassing love that we are to have for the Lord.

As I have mentioned several times lately, it’s reminiscent of the love of Jonathan for David.  It was a noble love that David, as a type of Christ, said  surpassed the love of a woman.  That is the love we are to have for the Lord.  It is greater than the love we have even for our spouse.  Our hope is not in an human person, not even a husband or wife, but our hope is in the Lord, and we love Him supremely above every human affection.

Mary’s act of love was not only sacrificial, it was extravagant.  It would have been more reasonable to have poured out a few drops, or perhaps as much as a handful of the precious ointment.  That would have been more than enough.  But Mary broke the vial and lavished it’s contents on the head of feet of Jesus.  Nothing could be gathered up and put back in the alabaster vial.  It was spent, it was spilled, it was splashed over Him from His head to HIs toes. John’s gospel tells us that she wiped His feet with her hair.  The Bible tells us that a woman’s hair is her glory.  I’m not sure what that means, except to confirm that I have always liked a woman with long hair.  I suppose it refers to a beautiful covering which God has given to a woman. And so with this sign of her beauty, a mark of her femininity, she gets on her hands and knees and uses her hair to mop up and wipe Jesus’s feet.  What a magnificent, extravagant gesture of her love for Christ.

And thirdly, Mary’s act of love effected everyone around them.  Have you ever noticed when someone has put on a little too much perfume or cologne?  There is sometimes an almost overwhelming, pungent aroma that pervades the room, or trails the person as they walk by.  Well, Mary just emptied a pound of this extremely powerful, costly perfume on Jesus.  And again, we look to John’s gospel for this detail, and he says the house was filled with the fragrance.  I bet it was.  In fact, I bet Jesus had this powerful aroma on His body and clothes for days afterward.  In fact, Jesus alludes to that by saying to the disgruntled disciples, “she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.”  I suppose that there was still the aroma of Mary’s perfume on His body when they laid the cat of nine tails against His back.

But her act of love not only anointed Jesus with the perfume, but she was covered with it as well.  It was on her head.  Her lavish gift of love for Christ anointed herself even as she was anointing Him.  This is an illustration of the verse, “it is better to give than to receive.”  For in giving to the Lord, you bless yourself. In loving the Lord, you are loved. 

And not only did she bless herself, but it had an effect on all who were in the house.  Everyone there had the aroma of this offering upon themselves.  All of them left the house that night and carried with them the tangible reminder of this woman’s unabashed, unmeasured love for the Lord as a testimony to them.  When we love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul and mind and strength, then the world will smell the pleasing aroma of that sacrificial love and it will be a testimony greater than any words can express.

In fact, Jesus said that her testimony was not only going to fill the house, effecting everyone present, but it would also stand throughout the ages to come as a testimony to future Christians of what unmitigated love for the Lord really looks like. Jesus said in vs9 "Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

 And I would submit to you that when you truly love the Lord and worship Him with an all encompassing, sacrificial love like Mary had, then it’s going to start affecting others in your house.  You live with a husband  who doesn’t care about things of the Lord?  The answer is not to nag him to death, but to so love the Lord with an all encompassing, sacrificial love that he cannot help but be affected by it.  Your kids don’t seem interested in the things of God?  The answer is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind.  And when you are consumed with the genuine love of God, that fragrance is going to affect everyone in your house.  Every marital problem, every family problem, every sin problem, finds it’s solution by putting Christ first and foremost in every place in your life.  When you get your love for the Lord right, then those other things are going to start to fall into place.

And I would just add one other point before we look at the contrasting example of Judas.  And that is why should we love the Lord?  You know, I can think of a lot of songs in which we sing of the love of God towards me.  But it’s much more difficult to find a song in which we sing of our love for the Lord.  It’s good to think about why we love the Lord.  David in writing the Psalms, which were the original hymns, talks constantly about the admirable attributes of the Lord. I don’t have time to track through all the Psalms this morning, but I would just look at Psalm 145 as an example.  David says he loves the Lord because of His great works, because of His mighty acts, because of the splendor of His majesty, because of His greatness, because of His goodness, because of His righteousness.  He goes on to say that the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. Then he goes on to talk about the goodness and mercy of the Lord to save, to forgive, to help, to raise up the fallen, to feed the needy, to keep and to satisfy.  When we think about the attributes and character of our Great Lord and God, our Savior and Redeemer, our Substitute, our Bridegroom, our King and Almighty God, how can we not love Him and give Him our all?

Well, though it should be obvious to all of us that Mary’s love is one to be emulated by generations of the church throughout the ages to come, yet it seemed to be a sore subject to the disciples.  Mark tells us that some of the disciples were indignant.  John, once again, gives us a little more detail.  He says it was primarily Judas who was indignant. Perhaps Judas was just the most outspoken of the 12 concerning their indignation.  

In vs4, they said, ““Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.  Notice that they considered the anointing of Jesus to be a waste of money.  They saw it as throwing money down the drain.  In actuality, Mary was transferring her savings from earth to heaven.  She was storing up treasure for herself in heaven, rather than on earth.  

The fact is, the disciples are only focused on the here and now.  As we have seen, they have been squabbling over who will be the greatest in the kingdom.  In  just a day more, they will still be arguing about who is the greatest as they file into the upper room for the Passover Feast, blissfully unaware that this is Jesus’s last meal with them.  But somehow, Mary has gotten a true sense of what is going to happen.  Perhaps the fact that her brother had died and risen again helped her to understand better when Christ taught that the Son of Man would die and rise again.  Or maybe it was the fact that when others were working in the kitchen, or arguing about who would be the greatest, Mary was found sitting at Jesus’s feet, soaking up the words being taught by the Savior.  Somehow, God  revealed to her that Jesus is going to die, and so she has taken this opportunity to anoint Him with her gift of love for His burial.

And that reveals yet another aspect of her love that bears emphasis.  And that is the urgency and immediacy of her gift.   Jesus said in vs 7, “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.”  In just a couple of days, Jesus would be arrested and crucified.  The time for her sacrificial gift was now.  Certainly, the disciples, especially Judas, were being hypocritical in their concern for the poor.  John says Judas said that not because he was concerned about the poor but because he carried the bag and used to pilfer what was put in it.  

But Mary recognizes the immediacy of the need to show her devotion for Christ.  So many times we put off for tomorrow what should be done today. We are not guaranteed tomorrow.  The scriptures says, “Today is the acceptable day of salvation.”  We think we have a lot of time left to serve the Lord.  After I get this done I will really devote myself to the Lord.  After I get to the next level in my job, after I get married, after I move to my new house, whatever our excuse, it’s just an excuse.  Today is the acceptable day.  Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.  Love requires an immediate response. Now is the acceptable time to serve the Lord with all your heart.

Listen, the bottom line is that Judas loved the world more than he loved the Lord.  He loved money.  He sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.  He loved money so much it really irritated him to see Mary lavishly give her life’s savings in one grand gesture of love.  She gave $30000 to anoint Jesus for burial, and Judas sold Him out to be killed for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a common slave. 

I’m sure most of us today are appalled at what Judas did.  We may think that we may not reach the height of sacrificial love that Mary had, but we would never betray Jesus like Judas did.  But perhaps we already have.  Matt. 6:24 says, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” And James 4:4 says, “You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that  friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”  And finally, consider 1John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I’m afraid if we love the world, if we put the things of this world ahead of our love for the Lord, then we have done exactly what Judas did, in selling his soul for the temporal pleasures of this world. Mark 8:36  “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Let me remind you of something.  Judas was close to the Lord.  Judas was revered by the other disciples.  He was part of the inner circle of Christ.  He had a position of great privilege.  He even participated in the healing and miracles and casting out of demons.  By all measures, he was an upstanding member of Christ’s church.  And yet, Jesus said he had a devil.  He was the son of perdition. He sold out Jesus for a little bag of money.  Our prominence in the church is not what counts before the Lord.  Our service to the church is not an indication of our love for the Lord. Our esteem by others is not what counts before the Lord.  It is the whole hearted love for the Lord from a pure heart that God sees which is what really matters. 

It reminds me of another disciple.  There was one of Paul’s disciples named Demas. He went with Paul to a lot of churches, he worked with Paul for a long time.  But finally, Paul said, “Demas has deserted me, for he loved this present world.”  He loved the world and the things of this world more than he loved the Lord, and as a result he deserted Paul. And Paul said that such “went out from us, because they were never part of us.”  That’s the same story with Judas, though he was with Jesus and the other disciples for three years, yet his heart was never given completely to the Lord and so he went out from them and deserted Jesus and in the end he was destroyed by his own desires.

Let me just mention one final point in closing.  And that is, even though Jesus was all knowing, and He knew that Judas was pilfering from the money box, yet Jesus never rebuked him, never had that “I got you!” moment with Judas.  Right up to the very end, even when Judas was betraying Christ with a kiss, Jesus was giving Judas the opportunity to repent.  The Bible says that the kindness of God draws you to repentance.  Jesus was very patient with Judas.  

That reminds me of the scripture which says, that in the days of Noah, the patience of God was  kept waiting, waiting for men to repent of their wickedness.  This idea that God is hiding around the corner with a baseball bat ready to whack you over the head if you get out of line is not biblical.  God is patient, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.  Judas never did repent.  He kept hardening his heart, until it says that Satan himself entered into him and he went out from the Lord.  And as a result he never found forgiveness and hung himself in a fit of despair.  

Well, we have seen two contrasting examples of how to love the Lord.  The example of Mary, who gave all her hopes and dreams up to the Lord in a lavish, extravagant, sacrificial outpouring of love, or that of Judas, a self serving, self righteous love of the world and the things of the world.  I wonder which example best fits us? I pray that I might be like Mary, and lay everything at the feet of my Savior and Lord.  The good news is, even if we have fallen short, even if we have sold out the Lord time and time again for the temporal pleasures of this world, the Lord is patiently offering us a chance to repent and be forgiven.  But the time is now.  Don’t put off until tomorrow what the Lord wants from you today.  Today is the acceptable day of salvation.  

Do you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Then Paul says in Romans 12:1-2  that kind of love requires a sacrifice of all of you. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Six warnings of the gospel, Mark 13

Six warnings of the gospel, Mark 13

The passage before us today is without a doubt the most difficult of all of Mark’s gospel.  There have been more books written and arguments presented on various possible interpretations than we could possibly address in a month of Sundays.  I wrestled with how to present this passage for study today.  I thought that I would try to introduce it and put off the bulk of exegesis until next week.  I also thought about skipping it altogether this week.  But somewhere along the way the Lord seemed to direct my thoughts to a particular theme that I am going to try to reveal today.  

And what I really see the Lord doing here is presenting a series of warnings.  He is warning of persecution, of tribulation and of coming judgment.  And His warnings are specifically to the disciples, but also to everyone who will read these warnings later.   Notice in vs37, “what I say to you I say to all, or as the RSV says, I say to everyone, be on the alert!”  So this is a warning for us as well. In fact, it may be even more apropos today than it was then.  

This passage is known as the Olivet Discourse in theological circles. And that title and the scholarly debates that has enveloped this passage for centuries lends itself to a certain detached intellectualism where people talk about hermeneutics and eschatology.  But the fact is that this is a vital warning that Jesus is giving to the disciples and thus to the church that is as urgent now as it was then.

There are 6 warnings that Christ gives.  And I want to read them to you so that you get a sense of the urgency that the Lord was seeking to convey.  Vs5, And Jesus began to say to them, "See to it that no one misleads, or better, deceives you. Vs.9, But be on your guard… Vs23, "But take heed; vs33, "Take heed, keep on the alert. Vs35, "Therefore, be on the alert, Vs 37, 'Be on the alert!’”

Now I read you those so you might get a sense of the theme of the discourse.  It is a series of warnings to the disciples and to the church who would follow, that there are going to be perilous times  ahead.  That’s why I read to you the whole passage initially.  Taken as a whole, it is a somber message; multiple warnings of trials and tribulations and judgment that lies in store for the world and for those that are Christ’s disciples. 1Peter 4:17  “For the time [has come] for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if [it begins] with us first, what will [be] the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

As we look at this more thoroughly, we note that his discourse is brought on by the disciples comments as they have left the temple and have started to ascend the Mt of Olives with Jesus, presumably to spend the night out in the open as they were wont to do each evening.  And perhaps as they stopped on the path to catch their breath, they look out across the ravine where the Kidron brook flowed they see the wall of the temple before them with the buildings of the temple reflecting the setting sun.  It was by all accounts one of the most beautiful buildings in the world at that time.  Herod had embellished the temple which was constructed of huge white marble stones, some as big as 45 feet long, and he had overlaid much of the buildings with plates of gold.  So as the sun was setting, it undoubtedly was reflecting off the white gleaming marble and the gold plating.  It was certainly a tremendous sight.  There used to be a saying among the rabbis, that if you had not seen Herod’s temple, as it was called, you had not seen a beautiful building.

And the disciples were obviously in great admiration of it.  These were poor fishermen from Galilee, for the most part, and so this was a tremendous sight.  Notice how they speak of the temple to Jesus; "Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”  The disciples are merely repeating what was a very typical perspective for most Jews.  They all thought of the temple as the house of the Lord. They believed God dwelled in the midst of it, in the Holy of Holies.  It was the center of religious life.  David wrote many songs extolling the virtues of worshipping God in the temple.  And so for the disciples, as for most Jews, worshipping God and worshipping in the temple were synonymous.  In fact, you could say that in their minds to love the Lord was to love the temple.  

But the Lord’s actions over the last few days should have revealed that He was not pleased with the temple, neither the priests who oversaw  it, nor the way in which commerce was being conducted in it, and neither the self righteous external religious exercises that were being conducted in it.  However, the disciples reflect what many people think concerning the church even today.  They associate a beautiful building with church.  They associate rituals and ceremonies with holiness.  They associate even great crowds and pageantry and music and festivals with worshipping the Lord.  They look at the external church and think that somehow God is in it.  

But God’s attitude towards the church is not focused on the externals, especially not upon the buildings or the beautiful adornments or rituals or ceremonies or pageantry.  Go is concerned with the heart.  As God told Samuel in regards to him choosing a king, “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.”  God looks through the externals and sees the heart of the people.

  

From God’s perspective, the love of the church is to be a love of Him.  The church as His body is to be a reflection of Him.  It is His house.  Remember the context here is still within the Passion week, when just a day earlier Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.  It is the pure, unadulterated love of a bride for her husband.  It is the love of Jonathan for David which David said was better than the love of a woman.  

I hate to even repeat what perverse things liberals have said concerning the love between Jonathan and David.  Let me just say what it is.  It is a picture of the way a man should love the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is a noble love, a love that is willing to lay down one’s life for his friend.  It is greater than romantic love.  It is greater, more noble than romantic love.  It cannot even be compared to erotic love.  It is the love of a warrior for his king and country, that drives him to lay down his life in service.  It’s the kind of love that Uriah exhibited, when David called him from the battle field to come give him a report, in hope that Uriah would visit his wife and he could be thought of as the father of Bathsheba’s unborn child.  But Uriah, you will remember, refused to go to see his wife and rather slept on the porch of David’s palace.  His answer as to why he did not visit his wife was because his men were on the battlefront fighting, how could he go sleep in comfort with his wife.  That’s the kind of love that surpasses the love of a woman.  That’s the kind of love we are to have for the church and for the Lord of the church. Oh that the church might have some Jonathan’s today who would give up their kingdom in order to serve the Lord.  Oh that the church might have a few Uriah’s today, that would give up even the love of their family for the sake of God’s church.

 I want to say also that this title Lord is something we need to think of more seriously.  We say Lord Jesus without thinking of what that means.  If we are truly Christians, then Jesus must not be only our Savior, but also our Lord.  Lord means Sovereign.  Master, ruler, supreme ruler, owner, the one to whom all honor and homage is due.  He is the Governor of our lives.  He gave us life, and liberty, and an eternal inheritance.  He is the source of all life and all blessings.  How can we not give Him His due as our Lord?  And if He is our Lord, then we must serve Him with all our being; all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength.  Nothing less than all of me is acceptable service.  No holding back.

Phl 2:9 says,  “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”   So Jesus is Lord, and He is also Lord of the temple and Lord of the church.  And as Lord He has the authority and right to examine what is His and to do with it what He wills.  

Matthew records Jesus as saying just previously to the Olivet Discourse as He looked over the temple and all the religious proceedings, according to Matthew 23:38  "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!”  And immediately afterwards the disciples then start speaking of how beautiful the temple and the buildings were. 

So the Lord responds with an even more dramatic statement; “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”  We know from history that this astounding prophecy was fulfilled less than 40 years later when Titus and His soldiers broke through the walls of Jerusalem and ransacked the city and the temple and set fire to the temple so that the gold melted and ran down into the cracks between the stones, so that the soldiers pried apart the stones in order to get the gold.  Historians tell us that 1.1 million Jews were massacred in that incident, and consequently the religious and political life of the Jews ceased to exist as they were scattered across the Middle East and into Europe.

Now the disciples are understandably concerned upon hearing this prophecy.  It must have sounded impossible, but yet they struggled to believe Jesus and understand Him.  So they come to Him privately and ask Him, ““Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?”  There are really two questions that they are asking.  When will these things happen, and what are going to be the signs of the end of the age. Matthew’s version makes the question clearer, Matt. 24:3 "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

As I said at the beginning, Jesus is going to use this as an opportunity to give the disciples and us some insight into the future events, but at the same time serve a series of warnings to His followers to be on their guard, to be on the alert.  It almost sounds as if there is a military campaign against a fierce enemy.  And they must keep their guard up lest they be overwhelmed.  And perhaps that is exactly what is at stake.  In fact, nothing less than spiritual shipwreck is at stake.  Peter similarly warned the church later in 1Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Paul often related the church to a military unit. 2Tim. 2:3-4 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”

Now let’s notice these 6 warnings in order and speak briefly of each as we have the time.  I believe that the best understanding of these prophecies is to realize that some were fulfilled within the discples lifetime at the destruction of the temple and some that are yet to be fulifiled completely, but which will be at the second coming of Christ.  There is a dual application to most of them, pertaining to the end of the age of the Israelites and also pertaining to the end of the church age. Perhaps we may visit some of this later, but for now I just want to give you an overview of what Jesus is warning the church of.  And that is what I think Jesus Himself is doing.  He is giving an overview.  This is not a detailed timeline of the end times.  It is an overview, highlights of the time after He leaves the church, so that we might be forewarned.  

First warning, vs5 , “See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many.”  This is a common warning in scripture.  It is a warning against false teachers and false religion.  Paul later on tells the Ephesian elders, in Acts 20:28-31 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;  and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.  "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

I think this warning covers more than just false Christs, but also those who would preach a Christ which is not the Christ of the gospel.  It is a deceitful doctrine, a doctrine of demons.  Meant to lead people astray into false doctrine that produces shipwreck and keeps people from true Christianity.  It is superficial Christianity that is external but not internal. That’s why the Lord says don’t be deceived.  

Another false flag Jesus identifies is wars and rumors of wars.  He says that is not a sign of the end.  In fact, that’s just the beginning.  The times of tribulation that the church will suffer and the whole world will suffer will be marked by many wars, many nations rising against nations, kingdoms against kingdom, earthquakes and famines and so forth will be the norm after Christ is ascended into heaven.  People today are constantly grasping onto every new conflict or catastrophe and using it to point that it must be the last days.  Jesus says that is just the beginning of the age, not the end.  Those sort of things will be the normal for the new age when Christ has gone away.

The second warning is in vs9,  "But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.  "The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” Now we know that this was fulfilled during the lives of the apostles.  Paul said by the time he wrote Romans which was before the destruction of Jerusalem that already the gospel had been taken to the whole world.  Of course, he was thinking of the known world.  But nevertheless, a certain measure was fulfilled then, and today we are seeing the full extent of that prophecy fulfilled.  I think that you could say that with internet and television the gospel has reached virtually every part of the world today.  

So there is a warning and a mandate.  Note that the gospel must be preached. It is our duty, it is our service to God.  It is the battle we have been called to wage for the kingdom. The enemy will only be defeated by the word of God as it is proclaimed throughout the world.  But the warning is that we will suffer for doing so, even as the disciples suffered.  Virtually all the apostles lost their life eventually in service of the gospel.  The same sacrifice is expected of us if necessary, but whether we live or die, we must preach the gospel.  We need to understand that the Lord is returning, and men are dying.  We need to preach, as one pastor put it, as dying men to dying men.  The world is dying in their sins.  Without the Lord, without the gospel, people are destined for hell.  We must have a vision for the lost, even if it means that we sacrifice our lives and comfort in the process.  That is how we are to love our neighbor, by telling them the truth of the gospel.  It’s our mandate.  Our mission.

Jesus goes on to describe the opposition and persecution against His followers.  Even family members will turn on you.  In fact, I will go so far as to say that your family will often be the source of some of the most vicious attacks against you as a Christian.  Jesus says that in some cases they will even turn you over to be killed.  Children will rise up against their own parents.  [2Ti 3:1-5 NASB] 1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”  Sounds exactly like our culture today.

Vs13 "You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”  I don’t think that Jesus is talking about conversion here, but he is talking about the end of one’s life.  Persevere until the end.  Endure until the end.  Fight the good fight.  Finish the course.  Paul said in [2Ti 4:7-8 NASB] 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  Such is our hope if we finish well.  

These next verses I think clearly refer to the destruction of the temple. Vs 14 "But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 "The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; 16 and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 17 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 18 "But pray that it may not happen in the winter.

The situation was when Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman armies, the people did what was normal for that time, they went for refuge to the walled cities.  In that case they went to Jerusalem as the Romans came in closer.  Jesus said do not go into the city, but instead flee to the mountains.  History tells us that 1.1 million Jews died in Jerusalem when Titus sacked the city.  But it is believed that many of Jesus’s followers escaped by fleeing into the mountains. 

Now a lot of dispensationalists make hay with the mention of the abomination of desolation.  It is a probably a reference to the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes who offered swine blood on a pagan altar in the temple 200 years before Christ in fulfillment of Daniels prophecy.  And Jesus meant that as a foreshadowing of the Roman legions with their banners depicting Caesar encircling Jerusalem.  In fact, in Luke’s synoptic account in Luke 21, he makes it clear that the encroaching Roman armies are the abomination of desolation here spoken of. Luke 21:20  "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near.” There may yet be a future fulfillment of that prophecy though in regards to Israel today.  Today I think you may certainly say that Israel is encircled with enemy armies.  Perhaps the end of the age is much closer than we might think.  

Once again, Jesus warns of false Christs and false prophets who will arise, so that if possible they would lead astray even the elect.  As I mentioned earlier, Paul said those would come immediately upon his departure.  John, and Peter and Jude also spoke of false prophets already in place.  John said that many anti Christs were already in the world. So we know that was fulfilled, and yet we know that in the end of times such false teachers will increase even more.  Notice how today there are entire denominations that are known for their signs and wonders and consequently are deceiving many people.

Vs24-29 sound to many as if He is speaking of His second coming.  And perhaps in one respect He is.  But I think it is also accurate, and perhaps more accurate to see this section as apocalyptic language which depicts a coming judgment.  If you look at prophetic language of the Old Testament, particularly in regards to God’s judgment upon the pagan nations, you will hear almost the exact same phrases being used. The events depicted in Mark are similar to those used to foretell God’s judgment of other nations such as Babylon - Isa 13:9-10, Egypt - Isa 19:1. Edom Isaiah 34:4,5; Nineveh - Nah 1:3-5, Israel - Am 8:9 or Judah - Jer 4:5-6,23-28.  The prophets often foretold God’s coming in judgment upon such nations by using figures of speech denoting worldwide, cataclysmic destruction, even though it was a local or national event.  And perhaps it was done so to foreshadow God’s final judgment upon the world at the end of the age.  And I would add that the reason for God’s warning, and the reason even for the ensuing judgment and wrath is to bring about repentance.  Even in judgment God is working to bring repentance.

    

But notice that Jesus puts a contemporary ending on this section by saying this generation will not pass away until all these things come to pass.  Many theologians have tried to define generation to mean race or people in order to show that this judgment is still in the future.  But we know for certain that it was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in one generation (40 years).  The point though I want to emphasize though is that the Lord has the right to pronounce judgment upon His temple, and He has the right to pronounce judgment upon His world, and even His church as we saw in the letters to the seven churches.  And the certainty is that the Lord is going to return in judgment for the world, and deliverance for His bride. James 5:8-9 “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.  Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”

The last three warnings are all found in the last section, from vs33 to 37.  And I have to cut this message short due to time.  But suffice it to say that Jesus illustrates very well the mission for the church today in His statement about the man who went away on a journey.  He is speaking metaphorically of course about Himself, who has ascended into heaven to the Father’s right hand.  In the meantime, He has given to us, His servants the responsibility of guarding His house and maintaining His kingdom until He returns.  And foremost in His statement, He instructs us to stay alert. 

“Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the [fn]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”

Yet once again I think that there is an allusion to the immediate situation for the disciples and a future allusion for us today.  For the disicples, it would be but 2 days before they would be told in the garden to watch and pray that they may not fall into temptation.  And yet Jesus found them asleep on two occasions.  And consequently they deserted Him in HIs betrayal. I think it’s no accident that Jesus mentions a rooster crowing, reminiscent of the denial by Peter when the cock crowed as he denied Christ three times.  They were so focused on the future that they forgot the present application to be on their guard.

And I think the application is just as appropriate for the church today.  I think the church is asleep when we are supposed to be on duty.  We need to be about the Lord’s business.  We need to be praying and watching and guarding against temptation.  But instead I’m afraid we are lulled to sleep by ear tickling preachers who are preaching a here and now prosperity doctrine so that we are so concerned with the world that we are too preoccupied to be any use for the kingdom.  I don’t claim to know all the ways that you may be deceived by the devil, or distracted by the devil, but I do know that the Lord is coming quickly.  And He is coming this time in judgment.  We need to make sure that we are found by Him to be faithful.  He is Lord.  We are His servants.  

[2Pe 3:3-4, 7, 10-15 NASB] 3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." ... 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ... 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation;